Parkland Shooting Suspect’s Brother Starts Anti-Bully Campaign

The younger brother of the Florida school shooting suspect launched an anti-bullying campaign Thursday, saying he witnessed mistreatment of Nikolas Cruz that may have been a key factor in the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Zachary Cruz, 18, said the initiative will set up anti-bullying student chapters at schools across the country, create a 24-hour national telephone hotline for bullying victims to call for help and provide sustained attention to the problem. Nexus Services, the Virginia company that provided Zachary Cruz with a job and living quarters after his own scrape with the law, is sponsoring the effort. The WIN initiative — “We Isolate No One” — was unveiled at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. “I cannot sit by and watch another tragedy happen,” Cruz told reporters. “At the end of the day, bullying and isolation is a national crisis. Kids are dying. The kids know. Since we know, it’s our responsibility to make changes.” Zachary Cruz has said that he bullied his brother and others did so as well. Nikolas Cruz, 19, is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Stoneman Douglas shooting. His lawyers say he would plead guilty if guaranteed a life prison sentence, but prosecutors have not agreed to waive the death penalty. In cellphone videos prosecutors say were recorded by Nikolas Cruz before the shooting, he makes reference to being bullied and ostracized during much of his life. “I… [Read full story]